Audi S5 Cabriolet: Reviewed!

Very nice review here of the Audi S5 Cabriolet. Enjoy!

The sexy S5 cabriolet replaces the S4 cabrio, and since it’s based on the gorgeous S5 coupe, it’s longer, lower, and wider than the old car. Although the Infiniti and the Lexus join BMW in using folding hard tops, Audi remains faithful to fabric for several reasons. (Mercedes-Benz will, too, for its upcoming E-class convertible, which replaces the CLK.) Styling is the most obvious – cloth tops don’t suffer from the bubbly proportions that usually afflict folding hard tops. Using fabric also allows Audi’s designers to play with two-tone color combinations and different textures to give the vehicle more visual interest. Of course, there are practical concerns, too: a fabric top usually weighs less and takes up less trunk space when folded. It also helps to endow the S5 with a large cargo pass-through behind its split-folding rear seats and can be lowered in only fifteen seconds – while moving.

Other than the risk of a thief slicing open the roof, drawbacks are few. In fact, Audi boasts that its so-called acoustic roof, standard on the S5, provides interior sound levels comparable to those in a closed car, and it even features overhead LED map lights for the rear seats – which, by the way, offer reasonable legroom and, despite bolt-upright backrests, are comfortable enough for a pair of six-footers on short journeys.